1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed invention generally relates to systems and methods for providing content to a subscriber of a first video service provider through a second video service provider and for facilitating the subscriber incurring a fee for viewing the content, and more specifically, to systems and methods to authenticate a subscriber of a first video service provider and to allow the subscriber to view content through a second video service provider and to incur the fee for viewing such content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Subscribers of a video service provider (such as a cable service provider) will often times subscribe to various services offered by the provider. For example, one such service is video on demand (VOD), which provides individual subscribers a variety of content from which an individual subscriber can select a particular content (such as a movie), and the service provider streams the content to the individual subscriber at a time convenient to the subscriber. This content may be provided at no additional cost by the service provider, provided as part of a subscription service (fixed fee) to the subscriber, or provided for a prescribed time (fee per use). To select VOD content, the subscriber searches through a catalog of available content, selects one of the content items, agrees to payment terms if applicable, and then watches the content.
Subscribers typically access VOD services at their home through a single service provider. Therefore, if a subscriber is not at home, he or she cannot make use of this service. For example, when visiting a relative, a subscriber cannot rent content through his or her home service provider's system. If the subscriber were to rent content through his or her relative's service provider, the subscriber's relative would then be billed by the relative's service provider for the rental. Therefore, a need exists that allows a subscriber of a first service provider to view content through a second service provider (who serves as a broker for the first service provider) and to incur the fee for viewing such content.